It is customary in manufacturing frozen confections such as ice cream confections or the like to employ an extrusion process in which ice cream in a plastic or semi-soft state is forced through an extrusion nozzle with the external shape or configuration of the confection being controlled by the shape of the nozzle orifice. Thus, if the confection is to have a particular shape, a particular nozzle having the desired orifice shape is used. The extruded ice cream is cut, for example with a hot wire cutter, and the extrudate is then allowed to fall on a continuously moving conveyor. In many instances the confection is provided with a stick inserted into the extruded ice cream forms on the conveyor by a stick inserter mechanism.
Once the extruded confection is cut, then the confection must be fixed in solid frozen form so as to keep its imparted shape. For this reason, it is necessary to convey the extruded confection to a freezer or refrigeration unit without delay, and normally by depositing the extruded confection on a continuously moving conveyor which continuously conveys the extruded confection along a relatively long path in the freezer unit. For reasons of economy, this long path may be made serpentine-like, so as to achieve the maximum dwell time of confection in the freezer over a reduced area.
It is of particular interest to coordinate delivery of frozen confection from the moving conveyor to a packaging area. Typically the packaging area includes a wrapping machine, and the confection should be transferred to the wrapper without changing the overall speed of the conveyor. Prior art systems accomplish this by employing a transfer conveyor and a paddle mechanism to transfer the confection from the moving conveyor onto the wrapper.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for the efficient and continuous conveyance of confections from a confection-forming end to a confection-packaging end of a production line.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for converting a serial stream of processed confections on a continuous conveyor to a plurality of parallel streams of confections off the conveyor, without changing the overall speed of the conveyor.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for transferring confection from a serial stream of confection on a continuous conveyor to a plurality of parallel streams in an off-line downstream work area wherein the confection is transferred substantially without horizontal motion upon impact at the downstream work area.